If the Common Law was Efficient, Why Did It Decline?

One of the University of Chicago Law School’s best known ideas or outputs over the last fifty years is that the common law (made by judges and often passed down and adapted over many years) is efficient. It was an idea advanced by Richard Posner, with respect to tort law, in his time as a professor here, but it is also reflected in his and other judicial opinions which students across the country meet in almost every non-constitutional course. What does this idea really mean, and is it plausible or even correct? If yes, why did the common law decline in influence? Statutes and regulations have far more impact on our present-day lives than does the common law. Judges are now known and evaluated for their constitutional decisions rather than for what they do in contracts and torts and other areas that are often described as common-law subjects. Could the common law solve our current concerns about climate change and autonomous vehicles? Come to our Chicago’s Best Ideas lecture not just for the free lunch but also for answers to (and your questions about) these topics.

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Chicago’s Best Ideas, or CBIs, are a Law School tradition. A faculty member gives a short talk (there is time for questions) about important idea developed at Chicago with an updated twist, often but not always from the speaker’s own observations or scholarship. Everyone is invited, but the talk is always designed to be accessible by first year students. Needless to say, it comes with lunch – and the lunch boxes are usually something of an upgrade from the usual lunches associated with lunchtime programs. CBIs are popular, so you might want to get there early if you do not have a class just before the starting time of 12:15 p.m.